jenna: thanks for joining us, everybody, "america live" starts right now. martha: and we start with a fox news alert, folks. dramatic developments in the last half hour involving this debt debate, and be they raise the stakes in a crisis that poses a growing threat to america's financial security. welcome, everybody, it's going to be a busy "america live" today, i'm martha maccallum in for megyn kelly. you've got one influential senate republican now indicating he is not happy with any of the debt resolution plans on the table, that includes house speaker john boehner's revised bill. in just the last hour or so, bob corker of tennessee insisting that a major deal is needed to save america's aaa credit rating, and he says that there is, in his mind, bipartisan, quote, rising up going on in the senate to get that done. listen.

>> seems to me that all of us in this body should be pressing the leaders on both sides of the aisle to at least present a scoreable package that's scoreable and real in the area of $4 trillion, or depending on what you decided to do with that package, but if you voted for a package that was less than that, you'd be casting a vote to raise the debt ceiling, but at the same time probably cast our country into a situation where we're downgraded. martha: yeah. and that would be called a band-aid that would just move us down the road in the eyes of some. doug mcelway has the latest developments from capitol hill on all of this. hi, doug. >> reporter: hey, martha, how you doing? here's the latest on the boehner plan. a meeting broke up about an hour ago, and many of these formerly-recalcitrant republicans on the house side have come out of this meeting

feeling much more optimistic about its contents, much more optimistic about its chances for passage. let's listen to a couple of sound bites from be a couple of republican freshmen who have changed their minds about the boehner plan. >> can i'm going to vote yes. well, we voted not for one, but for two opportunities for us to get through this debt crisis, cut, cap and balance, and i'm confident this bill will pass in the house, and i hope it's signed by the president. >> it's going to pass? is. >> i believe it is. i'd almost put my retirement check on it. >> reporter: all right. they just had a very interesting discussion with a high-ranking republican aide on the senate side who said if this boehner plan does, indeed, pass the house tomorrow, it will more than likely move to the senate side tomorrow night. you can bet that senate democrats are not going to take this thing standing as it now is. here's senate majority leader harry reid. >> speaker boehner is able to get his bill passed in the

house, is there a way that you could alter it in the senate to make it more palatable to both parties? >> don't worry, it'll be altered if it gets over here. >> reporter: here's the interesting thing, the boehner plan will be brought to the senate side under special senate rules which allow it not to be blocked by senate democrats. it's going to be a privileged bill. now, the senate democrat can block it from leaving the floor of the senate, they can't block it from coming. republicans are hoping if senate democrats filibuster the boehner plan, it leaves them with an unenviable choice, they can filibuster it, but in so doing they will potentially also watch the u.s. default on its debts. that's something that the democrats don't want to see, obviously, but it's something republicans will hold them to if they decide to filibuster the boehner bill on the senate side. that's what we've learned just in the last few minutes.

martha: all right, and it's changing minute by minute. thank you very much, doug mcelway, on the hill. now we've got this for you as we mentioned in the tease before we started here today, one of the country's largest tea party groups is now suggesting that john boehner should be replaced as speaker of the house. the tea party express, an american grassroots coalition, holding a rally on capitol hill. the message to the gop house leadership: don't compromise with our fiscal values. jenny beth martin is national coordinator of the tea party patriots, and she joins me now. welcome, good to have you here today. >> thanks for having me. martha: right now we've got a fascinating and some would say frightening situation that's going on on the republican side here. you know, this morning within the space of about three hours when we started looking at how things were shaping up on capitol hill, it looked like there was growing support for john boehner's bill including, you know, allen west was showing he was supportive, kevin mccarthy, and now we've got

this message coming from the tea party, you know, hold the line. where does this shake out, and do you really want to get rid of john boehner? >> well, we have 74% of our people who say they'd like to see a new speaker or at least consider having a new speaker. we're not satisfied with what congress is doing. there's no principled leadership. the plan that boehner has put forth, it does not address the real problems which are the overspending that's going on right now, today. and his plan promises cuts in the future, and we've seen he can't even keep the promises he made. how can he expect a future congress to keep his promises? martha: let me share with you something that john mccain just said moments ago, because i think it reflects on just how high the emotions are running right now. if we could put that quote up from john mccain moments ago. he said the choice but to pass a budget amendment and be reform amendments and the tea party hobbits could return to middle earth. this is the kind of crack

political shaking that turned sharron angle and christine o'donnell into gop senate nominees. your reaction to that. >> well, john mccain, he isn't our president. part of the reason he isn't our president is because he hasn't been tough enough, and there wasn't a big distinction between him and president obama, and he's showing that once again now. martha: all right. talk to me, you know, when you look at this politically, "the wall street journal" basically said this morning if tea party encourages its members and representatives on capitol hill to hold tight and not give any ground in this, they're basically handing the presidency to barack obama again in 2012. what say you? >> what are we talking about? are we talking about who's going to be our next president, or are we talking about fixing the problems that face america? we need to quit worrying about the next elections and worry about whether we're going to survive financially. and there are plans that could do it, there are other plans that can't, but nobody is looking at the overspending, looking at directly in the eye

and saying we have to stop this. we spend over $4 billion a day in borrowed money. that's enough to build two and a half space shuttles a day. martha: wow. well, that's an eye-opener. jenny beth martin, thank you very much. we are living in fascinating times which can be a bit of a curse. but that's what we're doing. thank you very much, good to have you with us today. >> thank you. martha: all right. just moments from now the question from fox's chief white house correspondent be that has sparked a major debate. yesterday ed henry asked jay carney this: >> what was the point of giving a prime time address to the nation without an obama plan and say neither of these other plans can work? is. >> i understand the idea that there is not an obama plan -- >> there's not. there's not one on paper. >> point number one on the talking points issued by the republican party, i get it. >> no, no, show us the plan. martha: you heard him, show us the plan. so where is the president's plan? does he have one?

what does it say? how does it lay out what he would want to see this country to do? details on that and a follow up on that ed henry comment in ten minutes. also, we're going to hear more from the white house press room moments from now. and right now we have information on past debt ceiling hikes and how well those were handled for you to kind of think about in the midst of all of this. we report, you decide at foxnews.com, you can check out those, and those give you some interesting background on all of this as well. some very harsh questions for one of the president's close advisers today. we're getting word that general electric will be moving its x-ray division headquarters from the united states to china. the company saying that it won't lead to any job cuts here, but staff will be added overseas. now, that decision's raising some eyebrows today. why? because ge is run by jeffrey immelt who also happens to be the chair of the president's council on jobs and competitiveness.

joined by stuart varney now, the anchor of "varney & company" and, of course, from the fox business network. so that doesn't look so good, does it? [laughter] >> reporter: it's raising the eyebrows and conflicts on a couple different levels. first of all, what is jeff immelt doing? he runs ge, he's the president's jobs czar. why is the president's jobs czar in his private enterprise life taking jobs out of america, high-tech jobs out of america, and going to china? that seems like a conflict to most people. secondly, and here's where it gets very political, those jobs are going, being taken out of wisconsin and going to china. let's not forget that republican governor scott walker in wisconsin had a huge battle with the unions. the unions are allied with president obama. you don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to think that maybe jeff immelt is grinding the president's axe, deliberately moving jobs out of wisconsin to punish the republicans in wisconsin and sending them to china.

remember, wisconsin is a swing state. martha: yeah. that's a very interesting analysis, stuart. i would add to that and ask you this, you know, jeff immelt is wearing two hats right now. he's running a huge corporation, so you say to yourself, well, why does anybody want to move a job the china? because it's cheaper to get it done in the china than it is here this the united states thanks to, in large part, the unions. >> reporter: precisely. ge is investing $2 billion in china for expansion there. that's in the interests of general electric. but the other hat that jeff immelt wears is that of the president's jobs czar. is that in the interests of america? is that in president obama's interests? there's a conflict here that's a mile wide, and i tell you, there are some people calling for immelt's resignation from the president's jobs council. because you can't wear those two hats without a conflict of interest. martha: and i would imagine the shareholders wanted to do what's best for the bottom line of the

company and not be hemmed in by that council. >> reporter: he hasn't done so well so far. martha: stuart, thanks so much. good to see you. all right, you heard the breaking news right here three minutes ago, tea party activists who are getting together again. we haven't seen these kind of rallies in a while, but they are back out there in force, and now they're calling for a replacement for john boehner as house speaker. that is next. and monica crowley on what the debt battle means for republicans in 2012. and then there is this: >> complaints over extreme stench coming out of this building as well as the owner of this home, apparently, outside -- hey, hey! i'm getting -- hey! martha: uh-oh! a reporter attacked on live camera while he was on air. wait until you see how this ends up and how they reacted back at the studio. that's interesting as well. plus, this attack is even worse, but he survived. new details from the teen who

lived to tell about his grizzly bear mauling. >> i remember running and looking behind me and just seeing this huge, like, snarling grizzly bear. the end clawed me. i know i have some bite marks on my, up here on my head and on the top, a bunch of matted blood and everything. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defends against occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating. with the strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon. you had me at "probiotic." [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

martha: all right, sometimes the job as a reporter is a lot harder than you might think. watch this. >> chris o'connell is streaming live in south philadelphia. you never know what's behind closed doors, chris. >> reporter: yeah, thomas, we're live outside of what you just said, animal, pspca is calling this one of the most bizarre cases of animal hoarding they've ever seen. complaints of extreme stench coming out of this building as well as the owner of this home,

apparently, outside -- hey, hey! i'm getting -- hey, hey! >> hurt. let's -- all right, let's get off that shot. martha: this all unfolded in the middle of a live report you just saw outside the home of a suspect in an animal cruelty case. fox affiliate reporter chris o'connell attacked by the son of the homeowner. he was not hurt, we can tell you, his attacker was taken away in handcuffs. investigators found a virtual zoo inside that home including a live alligator, roosters and as many as half a dozen dead dogs. that is awful. okay. so we'll move from that to what seem like a much cheerier subject even though it's dire as well. this fox news alert we brought you moments ago says one of the nation's biggest tea party groups, right on this program just a couple minutes ago, said a majority of their members want

to see john boehner replaced as speaker of the house. so what does that mean going forward? monica crowley is a fox news contributor. monica, this is quite a day. i mean, when we started out this morning, it looked like there was support moving towards the boehner plan. we'll talk about the numbers and how they're shaping up in a moment, but you agree, basically. you think john boehner is doing a lousy job. >> well, i'll tell you, watching boehner and the republican leadership go mano a mano with president obama and the democrats are sort of like watching a little old lady try to navigate an icy sidewalk, and you're just praying that she doesn't fall, okay? [laughter] that's the kind of nail biting that i think not just tea party people, but also mainstream americans who want to see this debt crisis solved. we elected republicans to go to washington and fix the debt crisis, hold up a hand and say stop to all of the spending. and what we saw in the boehner plan over the last couple of days is that it, essentially, doesn't even take that on.

the initial draft that we saw yesterday and the speaker is now behind closed doors trying to rewrite this thing because the numbers just with respect there, what we -- just weren't there, what we initially saw was a measly $1 trillion cut -- martha: we all remember the $4 trillion which bob corker is still talking about. >> i mean, the federal government sneezes and spends more money, right? to put it in perspective, the federal government spends $10 billion a day, so this boehner cut for the whole year would, essentially, be five hours and 20 minutes of government spending. martha: nothing. >> that's it. so when all of the pressure came down on him yesterday when the cbo scored this and all hades broke loose, he said, okay, we're going to go back and rewrite this to put some actual cuts in. the problem is that they punt the real budget monsters, they punt dealing with entitlement reform, they punt it to a commission -- martha: and something's going to happen a year, two years, three

years down the road, a lot of folks look at that and say, that's never going to happen. >> right. because the cuts won't materialize, but the tax hikes will. was if they punt it -- because if they punt it to a commission, anytime a commission is put place in washington because the politicians don't want to have to deal with the hard issues, they punt the cuts. they never come, but the tax hikes always come, and it would be a fig leaf for tax increases. martha: when you look at this whole situation, though, some are saying, charles krauthammer among them, the republicans need to get together and back the boehner bill because if they don't have their arms around all three branches of government, there's simply no way they're going to get the real change they want. >> well, i understand that argument that, look, you can't run the united states of america only controlling one-half of one-third of the government. he's saying, essentially, look, suck it up for now, focus on 2012 when you can control the senate and may even get a

filibuster-proof majority in the senate as well as the white house. and then you can start rolling back this spending for real, and you get a president who will repeal obamacare and slash through this budget. but i do think that a lot of the folks who were elected last november, martha, have constituencies who aren't just in their district or states, but in america by and large -- martha: they said they were all on probation to begin with, right? they were going to be watching what they did. >> exactly. and house republicans pushed through two concrete plans that they passed, the 2012 paul ryan issue and cut, cap and balance. why are we now trying to navigate and propose a third plan when the democrats haven't proposed one? we did our job. martha: monica, thank you very much. according to chad program, it's very borderline in terms of sport for the boehner -- support for the boehner plan, but they may still get it. for more from monica, watch her tonight, don't turn the channel because she's going to be on

"the five" tonight, co-hosting today, and that, you know, when it's on? it's on at 5. it's five people, it's a fantastic show. check it out, monica will be there tonight. thanks. >> you bet. martha: they said he was on death's door when authorities released the lockerbie bomber two years ago, remember that? the hero's welcome he got in libya sparked anger worldwide. we're going to show you the new video, though, that has people even more angry. plus, facial recognition devices will soon help some cities id criminals right on the spot. why some critics think this could be the worst thing ever for our privacy. ♪ i'm gonna get you, it's a matter of time, don't you worry about that. hey, the new guy is loaded with protein! really? 25 grams of protein.

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martha: all right. we are awaiting what could be another ugly white house briefing any moment now. they're getting ready for that this afternoon. yesterday's session broke out in boos and cat cals, you don't hear that every day, as the press corps and spokesman jay carney had some sharp exchanges over the president's role in the debt crisis and what reporters called the lack of a clear man from the president. we're going to be watching that, and we'll see it unfold. we'll bring it here as it happens. and there is growing outrage today as a convicted terrorist turns tv star. the man who blew up pan-am flight 103 got a hero's welcome in libya when he was freed from prison two years ago, released early. the word was that he was just right at death's door, and that's why they let him out of

prison in scotland. last night he appeared on libyan tv, there he is right in the middle there with the beard, at the pro-gadhafi rally. amy kellogg joins us live with more on this from london. hi, amy. >> reporter: hi, martha. a lot of outrage here in the united kingdom as well. the foreign secretary said that seeing the lockerbie bomber out and about two years after he was released from that scottish prison on the grounds that he was just about to die is only likely to further intensify the anger and hurt and outrage of many people, particularly the family members of the victims of those terrorist, of that terrorist attack. now, libyan state television showing al-megrahi at a pro-gadhafi rally in libya. he certainly doesn't look spritely, but he is, in fact, a free man. no video is simply released by chance in libya, this was a provocation.

>> i think the appearance of mr. al-megrahi on our television screens is a further reminder that a great mistake was made. >> reporter: convicted of the 1988 bombing of pan-am 103 which killed 270 people, most of them americans, was released from a scottish prison in august 2009 on compassionate grounds after a panel of doctors said his prostate cancer was so advanced that he had less than three months to live. scottish courts have the jurisdiction to make such decisions, but, of course, there are suspicions this had to do with a bargain on behalf of the brits to get entry for sweetheart energy deals in libya. that, of course, has never been proven, and it's denied by those who were in power at the time. finally today, martha, the british foreign secretary, the foreign office sent the remaining eight diplomats left in london packing. now, officially recognizing the national transitional council of

libya. you can see the celebrations outside that embassy in knight's bridge inviting a diplomat to come from that council to represent the country, the u.s., of course, shut down operations of the libyan embassy in washington back in march. that's the latest from london, martha. back to you. martha: all right. very tough for the families of those lost in that attack to watch. amy, thank you very much. all right, let's go back to the white house here with this story. our brand new chief white house correspondent, ed henry, making some headlines after this exchange with white house press secretary jay carney. watch. >> i understand the idea that there is not an obama plan is -- >> but there's not. there's not one on paper. >> it is point number one on the talking points issued by the republican party, i get it, okay? >> no, no, show us the plan. it's not a talking point, that's unfair. martha: all right. in moments we're going to take a closer look at that because it has gotten a lot of attention today and whether or not the president really does have a plan as jay carney says.

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martha: well, how about this? brand new handheld facial recognition devices that are about to make their debut with dozens of law enforcement agencies around the country, and what's going to happen is they will allow officers to snap a picture and then immediately compare it with a database of people with criminal records. sounds like some pretty useful technology, but jamie colby has both sides of the story from our new york newsroom today. hello, jamie. >> reporter: hi, mar that, great to see you. this is csi for the next century. mobile offender recognition and information system, and what it is, martha, it's a handheld biometric device that actually can recognize people based on photos of their eyes, their face, it also takes fingerprints. the reason that's helpful is it can be used out in the field. it connects to a smartphone, and that allows officers to just snap a picture of a face up to five feet away or even scan the iris of an eye six inches away,

and it does an immediate search to see if there's any match of those into a criminal records database. that database has actually been building for four years, now, and the system has already been installed in 47 states. but the handheld system for officers is new, and they can have it at the cost of $3,000. >> you don't need to know the name, the date of birth, the social security number, you don't need to know anything. you simply need to ask them, look in the camera, and in a matter of seconds their true identity and all of their criminal record comes back. >> it really has been a game changer, and what it's going to allow us to do is it's going to allow us to know with a great level of certainty, number one, who it is that we're taking in when we book them in, and who it is on the other end of that sentence that we're releasing. >> reporter: now, law enforcement's excited about it, but you can expect challenges in the courts. they haven't ruled yet, but privacy advocates are arguing that using the scans that are

taken could amount to an illegal search without a warrant. >> we think that there should be some rules and regulations in place that govern exactly how the police use these things so that they can be used when it's appropriate, when the police have probable cause that, you know, you have committed a crime, but that they don't start using them all over the place as sort of a generalized surveillance tool. >> reporter: maybe one feature of the handheld device that could calm the privacy concerns is once the recognition data is either matched or cleared to the database, there's no record stored of the images or any of the personal identifying information. and, martha, you'll remember that's what raised concerns when the tsa implemented their full body scans, that those images were kept. not the case here. martha? martha: that has interesting implications for the terror watch list as well if it could be integrated into tsa. but as you said, there are people who are against it. jamie colby, thank you so much, in our newsroom diswhroo. and we are awaiting right now who could be a contentious white house briefing that's going to get started any minute.

now, yesterday's session broke out in boos at one point as the press corps and spokesman jay carney had some sharp exchanges over the president's role in the debt crisis and what reporters called a lack of a clear plan coming from the white house. listen to this as fox's chief white house correspondent ed henry presses the press secretary for some details. >> i wanted to follow because, if you basically have this boehner plan that you say can't get through the senate, and you've got a reid plan that republicans don't think can get through the senate or the house, and you're saying you want to compromise. what was the point of giving a prime time address to the nation without saying there's no obama plan -- >> okay. i understand the idea that there's not an obama plan is -- >> there's not. there's not one on paper. >> it's point number one on the talking points issued by the republican party. i get us, okay? >> no, show us the plan. it's not a talking point, that's unfair. >> first of all, the president put forward in this detail his principles at george washington university.

>> right. that's not what i asked. >> quite a lot of detail. the president stood before you, i can't remember if you were here friday night. some of you weren't because you cut out early, but a lot of you were -- >> oh! >> and he put forward in detail with numbers what he's willing to do. he then referred from the podium to the fact that white house officials would be briefing in if detail -- martha: all right, we're getting ready for part two of that coming up moments from now. in the meantime, democratic strategist christopher hahn is a former hate to chuck schumer, and radio host chris plant of the chris plant radio show. welcome. chris han, what'd you make of that exchange? is. >> well, you know, it's always a contentious exchange, and it is true, it's been the number one talking point, where's the plan? what's the written plan? in america many a deal has been struck on a handshake, sketched out on the back of a napkin that has served our country well. [laughter] and i am sure that john

boehner's well aware of the numbers that the president's putting forth. when he says he wants $4.7 trillion in the cuts which should be everything that the tea party faction of america wants, you would think this would be good enough. unfortunately, what the tea party really wants is to damage this president, and that's why they're holding out, and they are going to hold this country hostage. time for us to just invoke the 14th amendment and move on because these guys will not negotiate in good faith. martha: all right. chris plant, you know, chris hahn makes a point there. the president and john boehner talked in great detail over the course of several meetings, so the president was giving him what he was willing to do, and they were going back and forth, no? >> well, yeah, but it was all very vague, and this $4.7 trillion number is laughable on the face of it, and what ed henry was asking for -- in the interest of full disclosure, ed and i used to work together on another network which will remain nameless -- but he was asking for specifics which the

president has not provided, if he has behind closed doors to speaker boehner, then good on him. but i think the rest of us would like to have a peek under the tent. jay carney formerly of "time" magazine, by the way, speaking to many of his friends in the press corps, what it revealed is that no one has been asking this question. maybe ed could ask what the president meant when he said that we were going to begin the fundamental transformation of america with his inauguration? some a lot of questions remain -- martha: you know what? we've lost chris' signal there, so we'll work on that, and we'll get you right back to it. talking with chris plant and chris hahn -- they're still there. it's our signal. >> yeah, i'm here. martha: let me do this, i want to show you guys this jon stewart moment that i looked at this morning on the internet because i thought it was interesting, and we'll get chris hahn's reaction to this, first, and it goes to the point we're

talking about. >> so i'm asking you all to make your voice heard. if you want a balanced approach to reducing the deficit, let your member of congress know. if you believe we can solve this problem through compromise, send that message. [laughter] [applause] >> call your congressman? did the president just quit? [laughter] i mean, seriously, you're the president. you're asking us to call congress? [laughter] martha: yeah, i mean, often, you know, this is where things bubble up, you know? "saturday night live" and be stewart, but the underlying thought is the president has abdicated himself from this process. that is clearly the suggestion all over jon stewart's face. >> you know, the one night i don't stay up until 11:30 to watch jon stewart, it comes up

on this show. martha: we just wanted to provide you with what you missed. >> are i appreciate that, martha. but i will tell you right now, he's saying, hey, listen, call your congressman because they're acting unreasonable. he's saying, hey, we didn't send you there to hold the government hostage, we sent you there to solve a problem. the president put $4.7 billion on the table. john boehner's plan when the cbo scored it only cut -- martha: we've been talking about that at great length as well. let's give chris plant one last thought on this, and then we're going to go. >> i'm reminded of lbj saying when i've lost walter cronkite, i've lost middle america, and when barack obama loses jon stewart, he's lost his base. and when they laugh out loud at the suggestion that the commander in chief is telling people to burn up the phone lines, i've got to tell you, that's not a plan, chris -- >> chris, you know what?

>> that's community organizer 101. hey, i know, call your congressman. martha: all right, guys. you can carry on, we've got to go, but you guys can keep going, and we'll see you soon. >> we'll take it to twitter. [laughter] martha: all right. this one is a fascinating story. this mountain lion traveled thousands of miles to a place where they've never really been spotted ever before, this connecticut. in connecticut. the details behind what could be the longest ever-recorded animal journey in history. unbelievable story. and one texas congressman heard stories about how vets were not allowed to make references to god as they remembered their or fallen brothers and sisters at a cemetery in houston, so he demanded some changes. just ahead, we'll show you what he got. >> we were told we could no longer say god bless you and god bless your family. how did i feel? i probably should not say how i felt because it was absolutely

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can't i just have these? freestyle lite test strips. call or click today. martha: this is an extraordinary story. dna is helping to solve the mystery of connecticut's mountain lion. he was first spotted earlier this year. authorities just assumed that he must have escaped from a zoo or maybe from a private home where somebody was keeping him. that was until the mountain lion turned up dead last month. it turns out that it is likely the same wild animal, and authorities believe that he actually walked roughly 2,000 miles from the black hills of south dakota. now, this journey is one of the longest ever recorded for a land mammal. the vice president of wildlife conservation for the national wildlife federation joins me now. john, welcome. good to have you here. >> hi, good to be on. martha: this is an extraordinary story. this animal was spotted, and

everyone assumed it must have gotten out of a zoo or something. what would cause this animal to walk, literally, and how did he survive such an extraordinary distance? is. >> well, these animals are born to roam. if you're a male, you're out there searching for a mate, you're looking for good habitat, and the definition starts with a little bit of cover and a lot of prey. they're looking for food, and so, you know, it's interesting where this animal ended up, in connecticut, it's very rich in deer, its main prey, and it's got a lot of good forest cover. this is an area, the northeastern united states, that has recovered from near total deforestation roughly a century ago, now pretty good habitat for a lion. martha: it's sad. it was hit by an suv after making it all the way across this huge swath of the country. and as you say, you know, it was probably just looking for a mate. i guess things weren't going so well in the dating circles of the black hills of south dakota

for this particular mountain lion. but, you know, when it was detected, tell us about the science, and we just showed this incredible path, how they determined the path and how they know how this mountain lion made its way across. >> well, the science is relatively straightforward. it's finding fur samples and scat and blood, and when an animal is roaming across the forest, it's bound to leave each of those three behind. and for wildlife biologists, there's nothing more fascinating than collecting those samples, bringing them to the lab and studying the dna. you can do some fairly reliable tracking of an animal based upon the dna, it's a very good marker. so the biologists are pretty confident that this animal found in connecticut roamed from the dakotas, black hills of south dakota, through wisconsin and minnesota, and then they're not quite as sure about the rest of the journey, but probably ontario and new york state. martha: the incredible journey, the story of the three dogs which is a great story, and you think about this animal making

its way all across this area. and then even within connecticut in these hugely populated areas it went from greenwich to millford which is a nearly 20-mile stretch in there, and you wonder how it got that far without getting hurt or without getting spotted or without somebody deciding they had to trap this animal, and i just think it's so sad that it ended the way it did for this beautiful animal. >> in one way it's sad, in another way it's a really hopeful story. every time we think we've got these animals figured out, they teach us something else. to learn about the resilience of this animal, to me, is just an excite being and heart-warming story, and it makes you wonder how many other animals are wandering around that far without us knowing about it. martha: if they are sort of seeking out the deer population in connecticut and deer are getting closer to all the suburban areas, what should you do if you run into these guys? >> they're generally not worried about people. we should be concerned about

small children and pets, but we have an endangered population of cougars, they're called the florida panther on the east coast, and we've gone decades of that population growing without any significant problems for people, so i think we should feel pretty good about this. this is a really exciting story about us restoring wildlife. martha: john, thank you so much. great to talk to you about it. all right, this is a different kind of story. it was one of the most horrifying crimes in a brutal series of drug killings along our border, but wait until you hear the sentence that was just handed down to this young hitman after he confessed. plus, new details from the denver teen mauled by a bear. d. i don't always have time to eat like i should. that's why i like glucerna shakes. they have slowly digestible carbs to help minimize blood sugar spikes, which can help lower a1c. [ ma announcer ] glucerna. helping people with diabetes find balance. whose long day starts with arthritis pain...

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martha: such a story this week, and chilling new details from

the teenagers who survived that vicious bear attack in the alaskan wilderness. now 17-year-old sam is recovering in the hospital, and the grizzly bit him in the chest with so much force that it punctured his lung and broke his ribs. and today we're learning more about the victims, from the victims, i should say, about exactly what happened during that horrifying attack. and trace gallagher's on it for us from the west coast bureau. hey, trace. >> reporter: hey, martha. to hear these teenagers attack about this attack in their own words really is riveting. remember, they were on a 0-day survivalist training camp. they were on 24, but this was the first day these seven teenagers were on their own. but it was the first day, again, that they came up this creek and out from the creek comes a bear. here's the student who got injured the worst. he says he turned around, and he was being mauled by a grizzly bear. listen. >> i just had this big old chest wound, and i was trying to hold

my ribs because i could see blood coming out when i was breathing. took one of the garbage bags and ripped off a chunk and wrapped it around where my lung was to try to put something plastic around it so it would create like an airtight seal. i'm too young, i'm about to go to college, i have a family, i have friends at home. >> reporter: imagine thinking you're going to die there. one of the oh students -- other students, by the way, said at first they thought the bear wouldn't attack because there were too many students. listen to him. >> usually, a bear won't attack, according to statistics, a bear never attacked a group more than four people, and there were seven of us. usually it would take down one or two, one person at the most and then run away. but in this case it took down four people, and it was going back and forth with the people that were down in the gully. >> reporter: yeah. by the way, these all, they all agree this would not have turned out the way it did if they'd not

gotten those survival skills. play this. >> we all, we all had basic to intermediate medical training, so we kind of knew what to do in the face of danger. but, um, i guess, i mean, i couldn't really say that we were calm because, i mean, you're watching your buddies go through some really serious trauma, and the only thing that you can do is try and fix it any way you can. >> reporter: yeah. they were not calm, a little bit panicked, but they all survived. the bear will not be hunted, martha. martha: what a story. unbelievable. trace, thank you very much. all right, coming up, they put their lives on the line for our country, so imagine the reaction of the families of vets when they were told that christian prayers would be banned at some military funerals. just ahead, we're going to talk to a lawmaker who's trying to change all that. and he is back, folks. the running shrimp is part of the debt debate. >> if congress wants to balance

the budget -- >> they could stop spending our money on things like a cotton institute in brazil. >> treadmills for shrimp. martha: more on this little candidate for some cocktail sauce coming up next. [ male announcer ] walls can talk.

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new ensure high protein... fifty percent of your daily value of protein. low fat and five grams of sugars. see? he's a good egg. [ major nutrition ] new ensure hh protein. ensure! nutrition in charge! martha: we are watching a fast-moving situation. we are waiting for the white house. they will update everybody on the debt crisis starts. we start a brand-new hour of "america live." things are hopping today. i'm martha maccallum in for mc. we are have six days left and there is figure no deal. officials say a greek now government may not -- a week from now government may not be able to pay its bills. fox news chief correspondent ed

henry is joining us. awed get ready for today's news conference, what's on your mind? >> i think first on everyone mind is first this is a fast in moving situation. there are only two major plans on the table, the republican plan with john boehner and the democratic plan with in the senate. both those plans seem to be in peril. you saw john boehner last night because the congressional bucket office said it was not going to cut as much spending as he thought. because of that he went back to the drawing board. coming up today and work those votes. it's expected to hit the house floor tomorrow. there are starting to be some republican confidence they could pass it in the house. but harry reid said it will be dead on arrival in the other chamber. harry reid's plan had trouble with the congressional budget office as well.

and john boehner and other republicans saying if it passes the state in won't get through the house. you have only got two plans on the table. both of them are in some sort of peril. is the white house going to put a third plan on the table or is there going to be another compromise that emerges between both sides? at this point there does not seem a clear way out of this potential crisis. martha: the question you asked yesterday when the president spoke to the american people a couple days ago, why didn't he come forward with a plan. now we are back to that again. the president seems to not be engaged in this particular parts of these discussions. you have everybody talking about the boehner plan and reid land. now the question again is where is the white house on all of this? >> reporter: part of the white house view is john boehner tried to cut the president out of this going back the late friday of last week when he basically suggested that he couldn't sign on. he walked out of these talks for the second time in recent weeks.

and that essentially left to it congressional leaders to work it out. i think one of two things will have to happen. ite were john boehner and the senate majority leader harry reid will have to come to some sort of understanding on their own as the congress works its will or this president is going have to get involved and bring theming to. we haven't seen either one of those potentials come through. but as this clock ticks you can bet there will be a flurry of activity at the white house and on capitol hill. martha: harry reid said there is no waive he can get any of the democrats to sign off on the boehner plan. behind closed doors are boehner and reid trying to hammer out something that can help both of them with their own constituencies? >> reporter: the boehner and reid plans while it may seem they are far apart, in terms of spending cuts they are not that far apart. the biggest sticking points is harry reid wants to extend the

debt ceiling through the 2012 election. something this president wants to do. on the other side john boehner only wants it to go for a few more months so we have this same fight again in early 2012. so if they could find a way to bridge that divide maybe the spending cut side of this could be easier. but to suggest anything in this fight is going to be easy would be a mistake on my part. martha: the timing issue before or after the election is one of the big hanging elements that's still out there. thank you. we'll be watching as you sit down and watch the questioning there. the debt deadlock we have been talking about in washington has angered a lot of americans we are finding out. there is a brand-new poll that shows congress's approval rating has plummeted to a new record low. take a look at these numbers coming out from rasmussen. an overwhelming 92% of people say congress is doing a fair or poor job.

a measly 6% like the job congress is doing. imagine if that's what you were getting in your job. that's a tough situation. but the house may be closer to passing a plan to raise the debt ceiling. a republican congressman telling fox news he believes house speaker boehner's new debt slashing plan, they think they do have the numbers to get that through the house according to that one source that we have on that. so what happens if that passes in the house and then heads over to the democratic-controlled senate? the senate minority will jon kyl joins us now. thank you for being with us today. so that the question. let's assume for a moment they can get boehner's bill through the house. what's going happen when it goes to the senate? >> the boehner bill will pass the house of representatives. when it comes to the senate there will be a few days or hours left before august 2.

i think that time will concentrates the minds so it's quite possible that there will be a meeting of the minds. the senate will pass the boehner bill which can be passed onto the president and signed in time to avert problem. if i could also correct one thing in ed henry's report. it is not -- he is right that the difference here to extend the debt ceiling through the next election which is what the president wants or only partway, in that direction:p. but the reason is not because speaker boehner wants its that way. it's that we have been able to come up with enough savings that the democrats will agree to that would get us past the next election. speaker boehner said we need a dollar in savings for every dollar the president wants the debt ceiling extended. he wants it extended $2.4 trillion, we haven't come up with that amount of savings the democrats will agree with. that's the only reason why boehner's proposal is to take

this five to six months down the road and do the second half later. martha: that's a huge points you are making. that's something we heard bubbling up quite a bit this morning. we may be having this same conversation in september or october of this year once we get this thing through. standard and poor's and goldman sachs say, $4 trillion is the neighborhood in which add to that real structural reform underfeet that that convinces the raidings agencies that we are doing changes in the way we finance things in this country. that not apparent in any of these bills, is it? >> i think water in focused on is the quality of the reforms going forward rather than just an amount of money. for example, i think most people agree in harry reid's bill has a savings of a trillion dollars, bits many calculated by saying if we don't stay in iraq and afghanistan for another 10 years, then how much money would that save?

but that's not money we were going to spends anyway. what the rating agencies are looking for, is will there be real reform to even titlements. i think the only way we'll get that is the way speaker boehner has proposed where he pocket the savings for right now. take another run as the it in november or december and try to achieve the savings in entitlements all of us would like to see. march were talk to me about your feelings about the tea party across the board here. they have been basically holding the line and saying that they are not getting what they were elected to do. they are elected too basically carry out the kind of reforms you are talking about here. and they have been a real sort of dmoght wheels o -- a real soe wheels of this activity. >> don't lump everybody in together. members of congress are all over the board. different tea party grimes have

different points of view. people elected in the last election feel chagrined they can't do it all. republicans in the house only are one parts of one branch of government. you have the senate democrats saying no to them and the president saying no to them. they shouldn't be too disappointed they get get everything they want in the first year they serve with a democrat president and a democrat senate. we are not talking about more spending now. we are talking about saving money. stopping wasteful spending. i say that's a good first step. martha: i'm surprised you are so sanguine on the issue of getting the bill through the senate. harry reid said there is not one democratic senator who will vote in favor of that bill. >> i'm hopeful because you will notice, the difference between the two bills is actually not that great. one reason is because boehner tried to take all of the things

that the democratic leadership had agreed to and put those in the bill. to the extent he could add them in there he did. the only difference as you pointed out is the fact that he doesn't have the extra trillion dollars in francophonie savings to get this beyond the next election. it's not real savings. so take it one step at a time. take the first step first. the thing the democratic leadership has agreed to and let's hope we can with this select committee do the other changes that have to be made in order to adopt the second and therefore extend the debt ceiling through the end of the election. martha: you were very critical of the president over the weekend. you said he was putting his election before the u.s. economy in terms of the timing he wanted on this. he wanted the timing to extend past the 2012 election. when john boehner ended those discussions with the president,

he said we are leaving you have out of this conversation, mr. president, i'm going to go to congress, i have every confidence in congress we can work this out. what do you think at this point, a couple days later about the president and how he's acting or not acting in this ordeal. >> first i think the most important thing to president obama is getting this beyond the next election. there is nothing magic about the dates of the next election. if we could do sticks months or six years or five months. i think his first goal is his own he election campaign. secondly he's a lot less involved now as you pointed out. this is now between the house and senate. the leadership, the boehner and reid offices. and to some extent the president is not as relevant as was before. legislative lead verse to make their deals with each other and gets something passed through both house of congress. that's the challenge before us.

martha: senator kyl we thank you. good to have you here. you see jay carney has stepped to the podium. let's listen to what he's saying. >> a coordinated national program to improve fume efficiency for cars and light-duty trucks for mod tell years 2017 to 225. this program which build on the historic agreement achieved for model years 2012-2016 will result in significant cost savings for consumers at the pump. cut pollution and create jobs. that is friday. i know we all look forward to some other kind of news story to cover. i'm sure you will be all over that. separately i want to say we are obviously paying a lot of attention. we are clearly, to the process ongoing that must by necessity result in some sort of compromise so we do not for the

first time in our history lose our borrowing authority and risk default. the president made clear the way to do that is a reach a compromise. we still firmly believe that the compromise is essential and possible. i would note that when we look at the various pieces of legislation on the hill, and with ther or not they are -- whether or not they are vehicles for come premice, the speaker of the house in pitching his plan earlier today made the point on the radio that in his words barack obama hates it, nancy pelosi hates it, harry reid hates it. i don't think there is much to add to that. if you are trying to make the case this is something we can come together around. as a country. this is sock that represents a fair compromise between democrats and cans and the white house, it doesn't hold up. so we believe that there is a

place to find compromise. the president's made clear that he believes this has been an opportunity to do something big and historic that requires political will by democrats and republicans. a willingness to take heat from your base as opposed to placate your base. but it requires a will on both sides. with that i'll take your questions. >> two questions. we are 24 hours closer to potential calamity. the white house any closer itself to an end game strategy? and what is the president doing to achieve it. >> as you know, congress needs to take action. we have been intensely engaged in negotiations and conversations and proposals and counter proposals with congress at a variety of different levels. the talks led by the vice president. the private conversations and negotiations that the president

had with the speaker of the house. we have continued even since the speaker of the house walked away from that potential compromise last friday we continued to have conversations with all levels with democrats, republicans, principles and staffers. in search of a solution to this problem that's balanced and fair. we continue to this day and to this hour to do just that. one of the problems that we face is last week while we were engaged, while the president was engaged and obviously others in trying to reach an historic bipartisan compromise, we were told the house had to go through the ritual of debating, crafting debating and voting on a measure that everyone knew from the start would never become law. so that happened. that ate up a week. now we are doing it again. the speaker's word themselves made clear they are not now working on a measure in the

house that there is even a preterches an attempt to create something that would get bipartisan compromise. time is running out. we need to come together now. we have only -- it is only a matter of days before the august 2 deadline. and while at midnight on august 2 we don't all turn into pumpkins we do as a country lose our borrowing authority for the first time in our history. and that would be a very bad thing. martha: jay carney answering the question, where is the white house on this issue. he said the cut, cap and balance vote that happened several days a go was a big waste of time and the work going on there now is a big waste of time because he claims both sides have admitted that's not going to go anywhere. so we'll keep one eye on that. you can watch it streaming on foxnews.com. we'll let you know if there is any news made in the white house briefing and we'll bring that to you as it comes in. a teenaged hitman found guilty

of killing four people got three years behind bars for those murders. remember this story? this is 14-year-old edgar jimenez. a mexican court sentenced the san diego native to juvenile prison for murder, kidnapping and trafficking of cocaine. he admitted killing and decapitating four people on the orders of the crime boss he worked for in mexico. trace gallagher has this unbelievable story from the west coast bureau. >> reporter: they called his the cloak. he was arrested with his 19-year-old sister in mexico city as they were trying to come back to san diego to visit their mom. on his cell phone there was video of him participating in a savage beatings and hanging of four people. he admitted decapitating and

hanging bodies from a bridge. he said he worked for the south pacific cartel. they drugged him and threatened him if he didn't do these crimes. he stated when they didn't find their rivals, they killed innocent people, construction workers and taxi drivers. he will serve three years in a juvenile detention center in mexico. they are better dekois, and when they do get caught the penalty are not nearly as severe. he was asked when he was being interrogated if he had bad feelings about the killings and he said no with they made him happy and he would do them until the day he died. now he will be back on the streets in three years. martha: what an incredible story on so many levels. a child and serious adult acts. and 3 years in prison for all that.

thank you very much. we have been well document can the economy and the debt crisis. and the effect they are having. the downward effect on president obama's poll numbers. it's even worse when you look at how he's faring in key battle ground states. joe trippi join us on what that means for the president in 2012. plus with washington consumed with all things debt. did you know america many tab for the war in libya or the not-war in libya is near the billion dollar mark right now. we are about five months into it. why there may be no end in sight. guess who is back. the little guy on the treadmill. the star turn this guy is getting when we come back.

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martha: an emotional ceremony at walter reed medical center closing its doors after more than a century. it was named after major walter reed. the army doctor that led the team thatlinged yellow fever to mosquitoes and don't underestimate how point was to learn that many where that was coming from. since the medical center opened its doors in 1909. hundreds of thousands of war wounded have passed through those doors and been given care, including 18,000 troops who

served in iraq and afghanistan. the hospital has 5,000 rooms and treats a staggering 3/4 million veterans and their families as shall -- on an out-patient bas basis. >> reporter: it was an emotional ceremony. the end of an era for walter reed army hospital founded in 1909 on this campus in washington, d.c. now, the medical operations will continue and all the fine work they do for our wounded a years will continue at a different location. this site has a long history. let's take a look at some movie tone pictures from 1956. dwight david iese eisenhower was here. he came back and died here in 1969. other pictures taken in 1909 when the first building was opened.

and the first patients were here from world war i. one of the people who lost his legs a few years ago, his army paratrooper, here is what he told us today about walter reed. >> my first steps were here in walter reid medical center where i worked a occupational therapists, doctors and rns. it has changed so much in the last 17 years. >> reporter: the people who work to help the soldiers inspire them and the soldiers in turn inspire those who who help the soldiers. that family continues, it was just moved to a different location. we had the golden knights, the army paratroopers landing on the lawn of walter reed. about it end of next month they will be moved to a new location. back to you. martha: thank you so much for bringing that to us today.

historic moment and the end of an era at walter reed. martha: we have been talking about the economy and the debt crisis and the impact they have had on president obama's poll numbers. but it's even worse when you break it down and look at the key battle ground states that mr. obama easily carried in 2008. joe trippi joins me. the former campaign manager for howard dean. martha: we take a look. it's a long ways out. the presidential election in 2012 and often you see the national numbers and how the president stacks up against any republican is one we looked at recently. but when you look at battle ground states, the presidency is won as you know state by state. when you look at that break down it's looking troubling for him. >> it is.

these are 50 state contests. you have got to win the electoral votes to get to 270, 271 votes. we have seen the last few have been relatively close. except obama won by so many of these states in 2008 that he can lose a number of them and still win the presidency. but the polling numbers look like they are becoming tougher. martha: the folks focused on his elections would look as the these numbersage this is how they shape up. in ohio he has a 50% disapproval number. in michigan which he won handsly, 57% of the vote in michigan. he's trailing mitt romney in michigan. 60% of the people they questioned in michigan said he's doing a fair or poor job as president. in iowa romney leads him. michele bachmann does not lead him but she's competitive.

4 points behind him. new almost shire gives the president a 46% approval number. how do you take on those numbers and those places? >> they are taking them on in different ways. in north carolina by holding the democratic convention there they hope to keep north carolina in their fold. they will have to target and make a decision about which of these states they are going to fight for there they will probably try to fight for all of them. one thing the strategists can do. you don't put resource into states you know you are going to win and put resources into states you know you are going to lose. that means both parties move into these states we are talking about. ohio, michigan, nevada, north carolina. and they will have to pick and choose. but my guess is they will fight in all of them. the president did so well in a number of these states in manufacture as you talked about

with 57% of the vote in 2008, that they can lose some votes and still hang onto these states and they can lose some of these states and still hang onto the presidency. martha: when you look as the these states, so many of them have been hit so hard by the job losses across the country. the battle is going to be how you explain unemployment numbers that may still be in the.2% range or upper 8% range. people saying i'm worse hoff than i was when i vote -- i'm worse off than i was when i voted for president obama the first time. >> a lot of people are beginning to make that conclusion. we are still even with the debt ceiling crisis and the fighting in washington, we are a long way off from next year. if the economy does turn and people start to feel like we are turning that will change these numbers in favor of obama. if it gets worse or stays the same he's got a tough reelection

campaign. bill have the resource and something to give up in terms of staying in if he knowledge hold it together. -- if he can hold it together. martha: a texas lawmaker goes undercover to find out if officials are still preventing christian prayer at the funerals of our fallen soldiers. we brought you this story a while back. she went down there to find out how it was going. and he did not like what he found when he wind undercover and attended a funeral. also amanda knox convicted overseas of a brutal murder, but doubts are mounting about the evidence that put amanda knox behind bars and her father is speaking out. what he has to say about the chances of his daughter's return to freedom. that is coming up. also here is a live look at the capital where lawmakers work to hammer out a debt deal before it's too late. the clock is ticking.

we are going to find aught what they are talking about and where the money is going. we'll be right back. >> next month congress could make a deal that cuts medicare, even social security. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. constated? phillips' caplet use gnesium, an ingredient that works more naturally wityour colon than stimulant xatives, for fective reli of constipation without cramps. thanks. [ professor ] good morning students. today, we're gonna...

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martha: the u.s. military action in libya is now crept into its

fourth month. but that is not what president obama told the american people when launch can the nation's third war in a decade. >> i said at outset this would be a matter of days and not weeks. and there is nothing based on how we can execute over the last several days that changes that assessment. martha: it would be days not weeks. that was in march. about 2 1/2 weeks after the fighting started. and we are still there today. jennifer give why is live with this update for us. hi, jennifer. >> reporter: the pentagon budget is $823 million through the end of june for the libyan operation. the pentagon estimates it will spend $100 million a month through the end of september. no one quite knows when the operation will end. here is how chairman of the joint chiefs admiral mike mullen

describes it. >> we are generally in a stalemate. so with the strikes over time moammar qaddafi's forces are continuing as additional pressure has been brought. >> reporter: britain is the third nato member to recognize the libyan rebels known as the transitional national council. britain is expelling libya's representatives from the embassy in landon. but the rebels say they would be okay if libyan president qaddafi remains in libya. more salt in the wound for nato. the pan am 103 lockerbie bomber appeared at a pro qaddafi rally tuesday. he like qaddafi appeared to

still be standing. is there not much talk about this libyan war from the white house, or from the pentagon. about it many important to remember that u.s. taxpayers pay 3/4 of nato's operating costs for this mission and other nato missions. martha? >martha: thank you very much for the update. you may have heard. white house spokesman jay carney warning again that they are now just 6 days until the federal government starts to run short of cash. we have competing bills in congress as both sides try to make this issue their own way. so how is this getting across to the public? spoathe -- to the public? pollster frank luntz joins me. >> it's not getting across to the american people. we see disapproval numbers for congress higher than it's been in a long time. disapproval for all of

washington. they are blaming both sides, all sides in this and they want to gets the job done. i brought for you two ads. the red line represents republicans, the green line represents democrats. we'll start with the democratic ad. it is hammering the gop on spending and medicare. let's take a look. >> if congress really wants to balance the budget they could stop spending our money on things like a cotton institute in brazil. >> oh theory at zoos. >> treadmills for shrimp. >> but instead of cutting waste or closing tax hoop holes. >> we'll cut social security. >> it's better to cut the benefits we learn than cut pickle technology. >> that's the best tested ad run by the democrats against the republicans. that -- the public hates --

martha: it lock like the ad is doing one thing. you seats line predictable. it's talking about crazy things money gets spent on, then the lines go imhetsly across each other when it becomes clear what the ad is about. >> it works on both sides. so of all the things i have been showing on that show that is the best so far on the attack against the republicans. now let's do the other side. what the republicans are say being the democrats. this one is interesting because of the language and the technique. it's very effective. let's take a look. >> sometimes it's hard to sleep. worried, i guess about my job, our home, my kids' future. i supported president obama because he spoke so beautifully. but things have gone from bad to much worse. he says his stimulus would create jobs with you now we are huge debt and even more people out of work. obama's solution is to spend even more and raise taxes,

really? we have to take away president obama's blank check. march were fascinating. >> reporter: it's fascinating because the thoughts that woman is expressing are thoughts that we picked up in the research that we have been doing for the past three or four months. people are genuinely afraid of the direction of the country. and now this whole debt situation makes them apoplectic because washington can't seem to gets the job done. martha: the green line is a flat line. which is strangely poignant that people who were very supportive are feeling like they are flat lining, basically. reporter: the problem is they don't see leadership from the white house, they don't see leadership from congress. let me be blunt. that ad is effective because it articulates the things we already think and already feel. but this overall debate, nobody is winning.

i want to be clear about that. obama is not wing and congress isn't winning. the public says what about us? martha: we see that in so many of these numbers. people throwing up their hands and not happy with anybody in washington. frank, thank you very much. very interesting as always. good to have you with us today. there is dna evidence that helps convict her of murder. but now amanda knox's father speak out about the problems that have emerged with that evidence that could end upsetting amanda knox free. this is a huge development in that story. plus it outraged many when we first told you about it. a veteran cemetery banning the use of the word god at military funerals. joining us now the congressman who wants an investigation into this, and he also went undercover himself to listen in and attend a funeral to find out what's really going on. >> we are private citizens in a

private ocean and yet we are restricted from saying what our ritual calls for. >> i'm going to say god bless you until i don't know what would make me ever stop it. w [ male announcer ] this...is the network -- a living, breathing intelligence that's helping people rethink how they live. in he, the planned combination of at&t and t-mobile would deliver our next generation mobile broaand experience to 55 million more americans,

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martha: we may soon get a better idea on the state of the u.s. economy of when the federal reserve releases its so-called beige book. it could happen at any moment. it comes out 8 times a year. it provide a snapshot of the country. we'll see if there is any news to report in that. here is a story we promised you yesterday. a ten pastor is speaking out after getting a whole lot of attention for a prayer that he said he delivered key words at a

nascar event and he mentioned his wife. trace gallagher live with the details on this. hey, trace. >> reporter: he mentioned his smokin hot wife. he was trying to give them something he they would remember. he achieved that. he was giving it invocation. he began by blessing the cars, then blessing car companies, then he started channeling ricky bobby from talladega nights. listen to ricky bobby, then the pastor. >> i want to take time to say thank you for my family, my two beautiful handsome striking so sons. p.r. and of course my red hot smokin wife carlie who is a stone cold fox. >> i want to thank you for my smokin hot wife tonight, lisa. and my three children.

lord i pray the drivers put on a performance worthy of this great pride? jesus name. >> we wanted to present to them that living for christ is fun. that being a christian is not the end of living but the beginning of life. and he wants our joy to be full and so we wanted to show him how you can still have fun. >> reporter: he said he just wanted to get more people to pray. his wife never heard this until she saw sit live on television. so as surprised as the fans were, his smokin hot wife was even more surprised. she says she laughed. the good pastor has never seen the movie, he said he just kind of started going with it and it felt good to him. and his wife was smokin hot. do we have a picture of his

wife. the smokin hot wife and the rest of the family is key to the story. there they are. she is smokin hot. he's very proud of them. he got a lot of flack bifer said i just want you to keep praying. martha: i think she was happy when she heard he said that. i don't think there are many wives who would be unhappy if their husbands called them smokin hot. you better get down on your knees and thank god for your smokin hot wife. martha: we need a picture of mrs. gallagher to put alongside that. martha: i love that story. let's move on to this now after that little bit of fun. a mom boards a school bus after she hears yelling near her son and now she is facing charges just for stepping on to the school bus to check it out. did she break the law? that's a good question. a lot of you are heading off for vacation with your families

because it's summer. it's now easier than ever before to take us with you. don't you want to do that when you go on your vacation. find out how you can connect to us on your cell phone, smartphone and any other device. you lay on the beach, you don't have to read a magazine, just come check out fox news. we'll not leave your side. we'll be right back. with diabetes, it's tough to keep life balanced. i don't always have time to eat like i should. that's why i like glucerna shakes. they have slowly digestible carbs to help minimize blood sugar spikes, which can help lower a1c. [ ma announcer ] glucerna. helping people with diabetes find balance. [ slap! slap! slap! slap! slap! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fit back fast with tums. calciumich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums

martha: a story that outraged a lot of americans earlier this summer. a texas congressman is calling for a house investigation into houston national's cemetery after he went undercover and found out that the word "god" is still in some cases not allowed at military funerals. you may recall our interview

with one of the volunteers for the national memorial ladies, the kind hearted folks who make sure no one forgets america's heros when they shall laid to rest. listen to this. >> it's hard for me to be at the funeral of one of our veterans, especially when it's a homeless veteran and that's why we are there so no one is ever buried alone. and we make that decision that we'll say god bless. how can someone come and tell us no, you can't. these people gave their lives for us. and we are living the lives we are now because of them. martha: we are doing great work from that group. joining knee now is the undercover congressman hoping to head light on this controversy. congressman, welcome. good to have you here. >> thank you for staying focused on this story. martha: the administration said this is not the case. they are not forbidding anybody from using the word god in

anybody military sairn moneys. so you decided to go down and attend some of these to find out what's going on. what happened? what did you find out? >> on july 8 i confirmed it for myself. i went to the houston cemetery and met with the honor guard. put on a vfw hat and put on sunglasses and feathered in with them to attend a funeral. right in in front of me the head of the honor guard says the cemetery director informed me we must approach the grieving widow as she is being lifted out of the vehicle and ask her are you sure you want the ritual said. and he said we are not bothering that woman on the worst day of her life. and they did the fully fuel. it am beautiful, magnificent ritual that the family asked for. and the houston cemetery director has to be removed because she is continuing to interfere in these funerals and he did it again as recently as this past friday.

she is continuing to prevent our v forecast w honor guard from saying their ritual because it contains the word god even though the families asked for it. it's just not acceptable. martha: this is her idea? where is this coming from? >> she claims she is implementing the policy of the obama administration. she claims she is following va policy. of course, the written policy says we are not going to interfere with the prayers said by anybody at a funeral. but she is consistently persistently stopping the memorial ladies association, the vfw honor guard from doing this magnificent ritual. she closed the chapel used it to store boxes. i had to get the chapel reopened. that appears to be the root of the problem. the cemetery direct jr. in houston is -- she says implementing va policy and

interfering with this most sacred and private of ceremonies. the obama administration shoved their way into the examining room with our doctor now they are attempting to shove their way into the funerals of our she ropes by thank you for staying focused on this. martha: it's a strange situation and we know you are following it closely. congressman, thank you very mu much. >> thank you very much. martha: we are just learning that a judge says he will release the name of the jurors who acquitted casey anthony. but is that fair since some of those jurors have said that people are threatening them? a fair and balanced debate about that straight ahead. we'll be right back.

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it's the cleanest, clearest water. we find the best, sweetest crab for red lobster we can find. yeah! [ male announcer ] hurry in to crabfest at red lobster. the only time you can savor three sweet alaskan crab entrees all under $20, like our hearty crab and roasted garlic seafood bake or sn crab and crab butter shrimp. [ jon i wouldn'tut it my table at home, i wouldn't bring it in. my name's jon forsythe, and i sea fd differently. martha: thank you is it for today. and now "studio b" with shepard smith starts right now. >>shepard: the news begins anew, on "studio b," box one, a suspect in the massacre in